1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention deals with the field of devices for facilitating the tuning of woodwind instruments and in particular the tuning of the barrel of the clarinet. The total length of a clarinet has a distinct effect upon the tone thereof. Historically tuning was achieved by a user partially withdrawing of the instrument from the instrument receiving aperture in the barrel of a clarinet to achieve the proper tune thereof. This tuning can vary due to temperature or humidity conditions in the environment or in the instrument itself.
With such woodwind instruments, it is conventional that the mouthpiece is removable for replacement or for removal and replacement of a new reed. The mouthpiece normally merely slides into an aperture defined in the uppermost end of the barrel. The musicians have learned over the years to tune the clarinet or other woodwind instrument by varying the depth of engagement of the instrument with respect to the aperture defined in the barrel.
The present invention provides a means for achieving this tuning into a novel interrelationship of a rotatable wheel and a rack and two tubular members to allow repeatable and accurate tuning of the clarinet in a highly efficient and extremely quick manner.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
Prior art devices have been patented for facilitating the tuning of musical instruments such as U.S. Pat. No. 1,103,555 patented Jul. 14, 1914 to N. Alberti on a "Wood Wind Instrument"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,171,647 patented Feb. 15, 1916 to W. F. Reynolds on a "Tuning Slide For Clarinets"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,194,887 patented Aug. 15, 1916 to T. Solberg on a "Clarinet Tuning Slide"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,361,629 patented Dec. 7, 1920 to A. J. Sinclair on a "Tuning Device For Wind Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,365,860 patented Jan. 18, 1921 to A. J. Sinclair on a "Tuning Device For Wind Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,374,758 patented Apr. 12, 1921 to G. F. Nenneker on a "Tuning Attachment For Wind Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,821,655 patented Sep. 1, 1931 to A. Loomis on a "Tuning Device For Wind Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,837,227 patented Dec. 22, 1931 to A. Loomis on a "Tuning Device For Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,867,481 patented Jul. 12, 1932 to E. B. Todt on a "Wind Musical Instrument"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,870,211 patented Aug. 2, 1932 to A. L. Smith on a "Tuning Device For Wind Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,036,356 patented Apr. 7, 1936 to T. H. Pedler on a "Tuning Joint For Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,323,138 patented Jun. 29, 1943 to T. T. Kearns on a "Tuning Barrel For Wind Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,485,021 patented Oct. 18, 1949 to C. H. Strupe on a "Tuning Device For Wind Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,802,387 patented Aug. 13, 1957 to F. J. Bushnell on a "Tuning Device For Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,943,526 patented Jul. 5, 1960 to B. L. Van Caster on a "Detachable Union And Tuning Joint For Musical Instruments"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,543 patented Jan. 20, 1981 to A. Werschnik on a "Clarinet With Varying Diameter Of Its Longitudinal Bore"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,605 patented Mar. 31, 1981 to R. Lorenzini on a "Clarinet Barrel With Removable Throat"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,686 patented Mar. 23, 1982 to J. Lewis on a "Wind Instrument With Continuously Variable Pitch Control"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,920 patented Feb. 14, 1984 to A. Werschnik on a "Clarinet Bore Having Varying Diameters"; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,682 patented Jul. 5, 1988 to D. Getzen on a "Clarinet Tuning Barrel"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,072 patented Mar. 19, 1991 to V. Pascussi on an "Apparatus For Locating Sections Of A Wind Instrument".